LTTE’s trail of blood: Nothing will ever be forgotten

On May 18th in 2009, we Sri Lankans went to bed with the assurance of getting a good night’s sleep. But before May 18th, 2009 we went to bed every day for 30 long years. Then what was the difference ? The difference was we could not sleep even a single night. Why ? There are hundreds of different answers. The answers depended on one’s profession, lifestyle, location, marital status, gender, age, economic status (whether rich or poor), and many other aspects. But the ethnicity of a Sri Lankans did not make any difference in those answers or whether one was able to sleep or not before May 18th in 2009. That is what we need to stress today and forever for our children, unborn generation and for the entire world.

It is very interesting to find out the hundreds of answers. The profession of a Sri Lankan mattered when it comes to receiving a good night’s sleep before May 18th in 2009. If he or she served in our heroic armed forces, the entire family did not sleep. This is because they did not know whether the coffin of their loved one will arrive tomorrow morning or not. The families panicked whenever  the telephone rang. A telephone call from their loved one in our heroic armed forces gave them life.

Then how about other professionals  ? The people who worked in Colombo and suburbs could not sleep. They did not know whether they will be able to survive a LTTE suicide bomb attack or any other bomb attack. They did not know whether their loved ones will be able to live without his/her income if he/she dies. They did not know whether the family will be able to look after him/her if he/she returns home after losing a hand, leg or eye sight due to a bomb attack. How can one sleep in fear ?  

How about other facts such as location, marital status, gender, age and economic status ?. Everything mattered before May 18th in 2009. People could not sleep at all. The people lived in dangerous locations such as condominiums were thinking about dying from 9/11 style LTTE bomb attack. Others passed camps of our heroic armed forces praying because a deadly LTTE bomb attack was possible at any time targeting them. 

Then all husbands and wives could not sleep. They were thinking about their husband/wife. They were thinking of how to travel separately in the following day in order to save at least one life on behalf of their children. If the husband or wife gets late they were highly worried and switch on radio and television to check whether a LTTE bomb went off somewhere. They could not travel together because they need to save at least one life for the children. Gender also mattered before 2009. It was the father, brother or husband who was in danger than female family members. This is because they were in our heroic armed forces, in work force, in crucial points where LTTE bomb threats existed all the time. The old people were at homes and the young were out there working. They always carried the risk of losing their lives due to a LTTE suicide attack or any other  bomb attack. Nobody slept peacefully at night before May 18th, 2009.

The economic status also mattered before May 18th in 2009. It was the suffering of the poor. They did not have private luxury transport. They had to work every day to earn a living. The LTTE bomb threat was everywhere. They slept at night thinking how to travel to office alive on the following day. They could not stay home due to the fear for life. They had to earn a living.  Even visiting the temple, church or mosque for mental solace was not safe for them. The rich people who had luxury cars and other vehicles turned to safe roads and went to work and then home safely.

If the people who lived in other areas of the country could not sleep before May 18th in 2009, there is no point of talking about the `sleep’ for the people who lived in villages that bordered LTTE-dominated areas. Today the young people do not know what these villages are. The people who lived in these threatened villages did not sleep at all. They could not stay at home at night. They had to hide in thick jungles and climb to tall trees to save their lives until morning. The infants, pregnant mothers, elderly and sick who could not do it were hacked to death by the LTTE.   

This is the era we passed. This is the era ended by out heroic armed forces led by then President and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and then Defence Secretary and the current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. We are alive today because of them and the heroic Armed Forces which sacrificed over 26,000 precious lives for the country.

We criticize everything because we are alive today. We have likes and dislikes because we are alive. We judge things and people because we are alive. We sling mud on others because we are alive. We fall asleep during travelling by train or bus now because we are alive today. We have plans for the future now because we are alive. We can hold elections and contest for them because we are alive. We talk about COVID-19 today because we are still alive. We can sleep today well because we are alive today and no bombs are waiting out there for us tomorrow. We should not forget our history and who sacrificed their precious lives to keep us alive today. We have to teach our children and all future generations what went on in Sri Lanka before May 18th in 2009. 

There is evidence in the Sri Lankan history for every single word mentioned above. The whole world can very clearly see whether Sri Lankans slept well before May 18th in 2009 or not. Anyone can go through the dates and nights mentioned bellow to come into a conclusion. Here they are.